Government awaits money from Mexico to finish Parliament

Government is yet to receive the US$2 million from Mexico for the completion of the Parliament Building.
According to Minister of Infrastructure Development, Gregory Bowen the ruling New National Party (NNP) administration is awaiting the money mainly to do the ground work for the building.

Speaking at last week’s post-Cabinet Press Briefing, Minister Bowen said he is hoping that the island can receive the money very soon to get the building operational by the month of May.

“We are expecting US $2 million from Mexico as additional grants to complete all these works. So, even if the building will be operational by the end of May and if we want to make it extremely beautiful and first class, we would have to allow these two million dollars to come on stream.

“So, we might move into the building by the end of May but work should still be going on particularly on the outside so that the compound and everything will be in tip top shape.”

“Most of the money will be for the ground work but there are some other necessary things that are in the pipeline that will be done in completing (the Parliament). The building does not have what most parliament buildings do have and we did not push for it because it is grant and we can operate without it.

Bowen dropped hints that government can eventually come around to putting in place individual rooms for each parliamentarian as is seen in the British Parliament.

The senior government minister disclosed that from an overall perspective, the interior of the Parliament is almost complete as there are just a little tidying up left to do.

He said: “There must be the delivery of the fire pump to the project, it is critical that you have this in the case of fire. Delivery of remaining parts for the hand rails installation and checking, testing and commissioning of major electrical plumping and heating and AC systems, the domestic water pump – even if you have water from the main, you must have water pump in place and we have the first shipment of ICT equipment and lines come into Grenada but they must be installed and commissioned. So, that’s the component that the contractor must do in order to make the building operational”.

The Parliament building initiative started under the 2008-13 Congress government of Tillman Thomas when it secured $5 million from Australia and $2 million from the United Arab Emirates but the Australian government later withdrew from the project.